Ten people pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor trespassing for their actions at a downtown San Diego rally to protest the Trump administration's zero-tolerance immigration policies.
Kevin Chun Pang, 24, of Columbus, Ohio, and Brittany Renee Baker, 29, of Berkeley rappelled off of the 16th floor of the Westin Gaslamp Hotel on July 2.
The rally followed a weekend of public protests across the country. Protesters were angered by the Trump administration's decision to increase prosecutions and convictions of migrants. That policy shift led to the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Police said the group illegally went to the roof of the Westin where two of them rappelled down the side of the building to display a banner.
Other protesters "spotted" the rappellers or blocked a stairwell to the roof so law enforcement officers could not get through.
The other defendants who pleaded guilty Monday were Ethan Michael Buckner, 28, of Oakland; Roberta F. Capobianco, 27, of San Francisco; Katherine Nicole Wires, 31 of Oakland; Nora Wagner Rasman, 33, of Washington, D.C.; Nora Rachel Leccese, 26, of Boulder, Colorado; Brianna Latrell Gibson, 27, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Jaque Fragua, 31, of Jemez Pueblo, N.M.; and Avery Sinclair, 23, of Washington, D.C.
Each agreed to pay a $150 administrative fee. They also must return to San Diego within the next two months to perform 16 hours of community service.
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The San Diego City Attorney's Office said the community service will be with the Alpha Project, a non-profit group that helps San Diego's homeless community.
Once the community service is complete, the cases will be dismissed, the city attorney's office said.
Any defendant who does not complete the community service or pay the fine will serve five days in jail.
During the rally, other demonstrators temporarily locked arms and blocked the entrance of the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building on Broadway. The demonstrators who locked arms in front of the federal building eventually moved before they were arrested.
Mijente, one of the groups that organized the protest events in July, also put together a legal fund to help with the defense of those arrested.
